Nightmare in the Heartland as February Tornado Outbreak Leaves Midwest in Ruins

1 month ago
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On February 27-28, powerful storms swept through the Midwest United States, leaving a trail of destruction and power outages in four Great Lakes states - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Additionally, these storms gave rise to a rare February tornado outbreak.
On Tuesday evening, a confirmed tornado wreaked havoc on two farms and a store in Henry County, Illinois. The National Weather Service's Chicago office reported at least 11 confirmed tornadoes touching down in northern Illinois, including the Chicago area.
Five tornadoes were confirmed in Ohio, with four of them hitting the Greater Columbus area. Two tornadoes were classified as EF2 with wind speeds ranging from 111 to 136 miles per hour. The remaining three were EF1 tornadoes with wind speeds ranging from 86 to 110 miles per hour. These tornadoes damaged roofs of homes and garages, and toppled dozens of trees and power poles, resulting in road blockages. Significant damage was also reported at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base east of Dayton.
Two tornadoes struck Michigan in Genesee and Calhoun counties. In Grand Blanc, near Flint, an EF-2 tornado with a maximum wind speed of 115 miles per hour damaged residential homes, uprooted trees, and destroyed a gas pipeline. The Grand Blanc tornado is only the second February tornado in this part of Michigan since record-keeping began in 1950.
Unusually warm weather and severe storms, including hail up to an inch in diameter, are uncommon for this region at this time of the year. Meteorologist Dave Cook from the Detroit office of the National Weather Service noted that this weather pattern is about a month ahead of schedule.
According to PowerOutage.us, more than 50,000 customers in Ohio and Michigan were without power on Wednesday.
These storms were preceded by abnormally warm weather across much of the region. On Wednesday, there was a sharp temperature drop, marking a return to winter weather with snow and hail.
What is happening to the climate on the planet? Why do such sharp temperature fluctuations occur? What should we be prepared for in the near future? The answers can be found here: Global crisis. The responsibility.

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